Today is the first day of the first World Series of Poker Circuit festival of 2025.
The Choctaw Durant kicked off the year in style with Day 1A of WSOPC Event #1: $250 Seniors Event at 11 a.m. today. There will be a second Day 1 flight for the Seniors event tomorrow, with the first open event kicking off at 11 a.m. on January 8.
The Seniors event is the first of 18 events at the festival, each of which will award its winner a gold WSOP Circuit ring.
New events kick off almost daily until January 19, when WSOPC Event #18: $250 No-Limit Hold’em – The Finale will close out the festival.
How To Win a WSOP Circuit Ring at the Choctaw Durant
If you are near the Choctaw Durant (or will be in Oklahoma between now and the 19th), you can swing by to compete for a WSOPC ring.
With 18 events on the schedule, there are events that will work for almost any player. Buyins have been kept low with the second biggest event being a $1,000 pot limit Omaha event. At the other end of the payscale, there are seven events with a $250 buyin. These include a Ladies Event.
In between these extremes, there are a couple of Monster Stack events for $400 and $1,000, an Escalating Bounty event for $600, and the $500 Gargantuan which comes with a $300,000 guarantee.
Then of course there is the tent pole tourney — the $1,700 Main Event — with its $1,000,000 guarantee. This is the event that everyone at the Choctaw Durant will be wanting to win. It has two Day 1 flights. One each at 11 a.m. on January 17 and 18.
Last WSOP Circuit Choctaw Winner, Phillip Bertram
The previous edition of the WSOP Circuit Choctaw Durant went down in November of last year, with Phillip Bertram taking first place for $237,307.
That edition of the event attracted 1,017 entries for a prize pool $1,540,755. While turnout in early January is unlikely to be that high, this year’s edition still has the potential to be a draw a in a decent sized crowd.
Bertram eventually beat Zachary Baron heads up to take the event down. Baron won $158,217 for his second-place finish.
2024 WSOP Circuit Choctaw Durant Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Phillip Bertram | North Richland Hills, TX | $237,307 |
| 2 | Zachary Baron | Dallas, TX | $158,217 |
| 3 | Michael Perrone | Chicago, IL | $110,000 |
| 4 | Robert Peacock | Las Vegas, NV | $78,345 |
| 5 | Vincent Pratt | Sachse, TX | $56,538 |
| 6 | Lawrence Wayne | Houston, TX | $41,509 |
| 7 | Vincent Rubianes | Stockton, CA | $31,013 |
| 8 | Benjamin Anderson | Killeen, TX | $23,587 |
The Year Ahead
This year, the WSOP has scheduled 13 Circuit festivals between now and May 12.
Up next will be the WSOP Circuit Thunder Valley in California. This festival kicks off on January 16.
Then the Circuit is headed all over the states from Horseshoe casinos in Mississippi, Maryland, and Indiana; to Harrah’s casinos in North Carolina twice and Florida once; and a trio of other casinos in New York, Nevada, and Illinois.
2025 is set to be a big year for the WSOP Circuit and you can follow all the action here on PokerNews. You can see the full schedule for the WSOP Circuit Choctaw Durant below.
WSOP Circuit Commerce Casino Schedule
| Date | Time | Event | Buyin | Guarantee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 6 | 11:00 a.m. | WSOPC Event #1: Seniors Event | $250 | $75,000 |
| Jan 7 | 11:00 a.m. | WSOPC Event #2: Monster Stack | $400 | $100,000 |
| Jan 8 | 5:00 p.m. | WSOPC Event #3: No-Limit Hold’em | $250 | – |
| Jan 9 | 11:00 a.m. | WSOPC Event #4: Escalating Bounty | $600 | $50,000 |
| Jan 10 | 11:00 a.m. | WSOPC Event #5: No-Limit Hold’em – Gargantuan | $500 | $300,000 |
| Jan 12 | 10:00 a.m. | WSOPC Event #6: Ladies Event | $250 | – |
| Jan 12 | 12:00 a.m. | WSOPC Event #7: No-Limit Hold’em One Day | $300 | $25,000 |
| Jan 12 | 5:00 p.m. | WSOPC Event #8: No-Limit Hold’em | $500 | $25,000 |
| Jan 13 | 5:00 p.m. | WSOPC Event #9: No-Limit Hold’em | $250 | $25,000 |
| Jan 14 | 11:00 a.m. | WSOPC Event #10: No-Limit Hold’em 6-Handed | $400 | $30,000 |
| Jan 14 | 2:00 p.m. | WSOPC Event #11: Pot-Limit Omaha | $1,000 | – |
| Jan 15 | 11:00 a.m. | WSOPC Event #12: No-Limit Hold’em Double Stack | $500 | $100,000 |
| Jan 15 | 5:00 p.m. | WSOPC Event #13: No-Limit Hold’em | $250 | – |
| Jan 16 | 11:00 a.m. | WSOPC Event #14: Monster Stack | $1,000 | $100,000 |
| Jan 16 | 5:00 p.m. | WSOPC Event #15: No-Limit Hold’em | $250 | $100,000 |
| Jan 17 | 11:00 a.m. | WSOPC Event #16: Main Event | $1,700 | $1,000,000 |
| Jan 17 | 5:00 p.m. | WSOPC Event #17: No-Limit Hold’em – Twilight | $300 | $50,000 |
| Jan 19 | 1:00 p.m. | WSOPC Event #18: No-Limit Hold’em – The Finale | $250 | – |
*Photos courtesy WSOPC
